Moody’s recognizes economic resilience of Cayman
According to the international ratings agency, Moody’s Investors Service, Cayman’s maintenance of its favourable government foreign currency bond rating illustrates the economic resilience of this offshore jurisdiction in the face of uncertainty that surrounds the US economy as well as in the face of recent natural disasters and.
In a report on the Cayman Islands’ macroeconomic performance published by Moody’s in March, it was noted that Hurricane Ivan caused the devastation by in 2004, and that Cayman was able to bounce back from disaster – which kept intact the jurisdiction’s Aa3 government foreign currency bond rating. It should be noted that this rating is the highest in the Caribbean, and 2nd only to Bermuda.
The report covered the Cayman Island’s 2007 performance, stating that economic growth has stabilized to approximately 4% over the previous 2 years, after 6.5% growth was posted in 2005 during the period of reconstruction after the hurricane.
In accordance with Moody’s report, while there are signs of deceleration in the construction sector in Cayman, financial services and tourism are growth drivers that comprise around 70% of GDP.
The report stated that despite the ongoing global financial crisis, the jurisdiction continues to play its role as a leader in the offshore industry and accounts for about 80% of the world’s mutual fund registrations. “In 2007, new mutual fund and company registrations remained in the double digits, and data for January 2008 shows the same trend continuing”.